DIY Decals WIP 2 and 7 Sword WIP 1

(WARNING: PIC HEAVY)

I've been pretty busy these past few weeks, and my current projects have been throttled down to a snail's pace. I finished designing the custom decals, and sent it to a local decal producer for printing.

I was planning on printing these myself, but I discovered that the black ink cartridge in our home printer was already empty. At Php500 including shipping for an A4 sized sheet of all-custom decals, its still budget friendly...

(click on the read more link for the whole story...)

Here's the finished product...

the supplier had to cut the sheet in two for easier shipping...

They're not as sharp as i expected, with some edges getting blurred - but that is mostly my fault for not taking out shadows completely from some of the designs. Next time i'll make sure I get rid of all the shadows. I also noticed that the black bordered ones turned out sharper. The decal film is thin compared to commercial brands. This is good if you know what you're doing, but very tricky if you are a first time waterslide decal user. They're also not pre-cut, so have your scissors and hobby knife ready.

...should I touch up my Sinanju with these decals, or just save them for a 2nd Sinanju?...

Overall, I think about 97% of the sheet is useable, with the remaining 3% (the all-green ones) being a bit blurry. I'll just stick with more solid colours next time. Still a bargain, and way more convenient than ordering from abroad. Add to that the fact that you can design everything from scratch and you've got a winner! I recommend these to experienced waterslide decal users looking for a cheap alternative to bandai's products, and don't have the equipment to print decals themselves.

guess what i'll be working on next...

If you're interested in the supplier, you can contact him on facebook - just look for Choco Decal
If you want a copy of the source file for my decal designs, hit me up on facebook (paulo gatchalian)

Moving on to my current WIP...
I think I finally nailed the shading on this one. The purple parts are also shaded (though its not too visible in the pics)

Here it is built up, with the custom quad-drive system and GN Lance, built from parts off of the HG 7 sword.

And here it is getting the custom decal treatment...

I'll be finishing up this model in a few days with minor weathering, a flat coat and some LEDs wired into body, the GN drives and the GN lance. I may or may not use the LED units that came with the kit, depending on whether I can install and operate them without damaging the paint job.

Stay tuned!